


Cause words are knives (and they often leave scars)

by Drhair76



Series: the night is dark but the moon is bright [17]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Bitter!Vanya, Diego Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Diego tries, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Good Brother Diego Hargreeves, Good Sister Vanya Hargreeves, Grace is the best mom ever, Reginald Hargreeves' A+ Parenting, Reginald fucking sucks, and he's trash, and that's everything tbh, but wbk, only a little tho
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-08
Updated: 2019-04-08
Packaged: 2020-01-01 07:22:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18331313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Drhair76/pseuds/Drhair76
Summary: "Are you okay?" She asked."I-I-" He stopped, biting down harshly on his lip. Instead of speaking he shook his head furiously. Vanya could see the beginnings of frustrated tears in his eyes."Okay," Vanya said soothingly. "That's okay." She stood and placed a comforting hand on his arm.or, the one where Vanya is a good sister, Diego learns to be a better brother and Grace is just perfect the way she is.





	Cause words are knives (and they often leave scars)

"I-i, I wa-wanted-" 

Vanya paused. She was just getting ready to knock on the door to tell their father that it was almost time for dinner when she heard Diego's shaky voice. 

"Come back with your request when you can actually speak, Number two." Reginald snapped. Diego's throat tightened and his eyes burned with tears. 

Vanya never considered herself an emotional person. 

When she was a kid, sure. She was constantly upset over being left out and spoken down to. Ben would always find her sobbing about the way their father treated them at the end of a long day. But now she was older and didn't care about that at all. 

So she didn't see herself as emotional. She wasn't prone to bouts of anger like Diego, or little sassy tantrums like Allison.

But seeing the way Reginald dismissed Diego made hot anger sear through her chest. 

Vanya wasn't supposed to be there. 

Honestly, she wasn't supposed to be anywhere. 

But eventually she stopped caring about their father's latest venomous words, his restrictive rules, and his cold gaze. She kept her head down but she didn't let his words get to her. She may have been ordinary, but so was he. 

Vanya swiftly moved backwards as Diego ran out of the office and towards his room. She debated going over and comforting him, but ultimately decided against it. She knew him well enough to know that right now he'd just be angry and the only thing that Vanya would succeed in doing would be hurting her own feelings. 

 

* * *

 

Diego wasn't at dinner, but that didn't shock Vanya in the slightest. 

She waited until they were all dismissed from the table to make Diego a plate and sneak it upstairs. She paused in front of his door, slightly unsure. She's never been the best at comfort. She worried too much about whether or not she was saying the right things or if it felt sincere or not, but she knew that the plate of food was getting cold so she had to either knock or take it back. 

So she knocked. 

"Go away Klaus!" Diego demanded angrily. "I-I don't want to get my nails painted."

"Um. It's Vanya." She called out hesitantly. She had a few questions about that previous statement but she kept them to herself. 

The door opened and Diego was standing there, frowning at her. 

"What do you want?" His tone was accusatory, flat, but also quieter than usual. 

"I just-" She held up the food in offering. "Dinner. You missed it." 

Diego opened the door wider and let her in. She gave him the plate and sat down on the bed awkwardly. Diego put the plate down on his desk and frowned at her. 

"You heard."

It wasn't a question. 

Vanya nodded and Diego crossed his arms over his chest defensively.

"Are you okay?" She asked. 

"I-I-" He stopped, biting down harshly on his lip. Instead of speaking he shook his head furiously. Vanya could see the beginnings of frustrated tears in his eyes. 

"Okay," Vanya said soothingly. "That's okay." She stood and placed a comforting hand on his arm. 

Diego stared at her hand with a frown before gently, cautiously placing his hand on hers. 

"I don't-I'm not good at this, but I know that you shouldn't listen to him." Vanya said slowly. "Just because you have a stutter doesn't mean you shouldn't be allowed to speak your mind." 

Diego sighed and avoided Vanya's gaze. 

Vanya could see she wasn't getting through to him so she gently tugged his arm. "Come with me." 

He stumbled slightly but Vanya's grip on his arm kept him upright. She pulled him out of their room, down the long hallway and to the stairs. She peeked down before descending and pulling him through the den and into the kitchen. 

Grace was there, washing up the dishes. Vanya had a moment of doubt before she shrugged it off. "Mom."

Grace turned. "Vanya. Diego. Are you okay?" 

Vanya glanced over at Diego and smiled when he saw his brightened face. It seemed that bringing him here was a smart decision after all. 

"Yeah." Vanya answered when Diego didn't. Grace smiled and turned back to her dishes. "But...we could use some cheering up." 

Grace turned back to them, a beaming smile curled onto her lips. "As soon as I finish these we can." 

"D-do you need help?" Diego asked, causing Grace to laugh. 

"Oh no, this should only take me a couple more minutes."

Vanya and Diego dutifully sat down at the table to wait for her to finish. 

"Why did you bring me down here?" Diego said after a moment. "Why did you even knock on my door?" 

Vanya shifted. It was a question she expected but she didn't really know the answer herself. 

Why did she help Diego?

He's never helped her whenever dad excluded her. He's never had a word to say whenever their father bad mouthed her in front of their siblings, it's always been just Five who stood up for her. 

"I thought that you'd be hungry." Vanya shrugged. "You know, cause you skipped dinner."

Diego frowned. "I know that's not it." 

Vanya sighed and curled in on herself. "I just-I know how it feels when dad-" She shrugged a shoulder. "I just  _know_. Trust me." 

Diego was quiet. 

Vanya figured he didn't care. He probably didn't even notice whenever dad purposely called her ordinary or told her off for even suggesting she could help with the training. 

He probably didn't even care and Vanya was wasting her time and energy doing this. 

She got up to leave, grateful that she could at least cheer her brother up. She was stopped by Diego's hand curling around her wrist. 

"I'm sorry." He said sincerely, surprising her. "I know that dad hurts you a lot. I just wish I could help more." 

Vanya watched him with a frown. Grace came over holding a bowl, some flour, sugar and a mixing cup. 

"Are you ready to bake the cookies?"

Diego turned pleading eyes over to Vanya. "Please stay."

Grace smiled warmly at Vanya, who was still ready to leave. "Do you want to bake with us Vanya?" 

Vanya looked from Diego to Grace with a hopeful yet distrustful look on her face. She's never been asked to join or been included before and quite honestly, she wasn't sure if she even wanted to now. 

Five and Ben were gone and that was all she had. 

But Diego's hand was still holding Vanya's and Grace looked so excited about the cookies that she couldn't possibly refuse. 

"Okay. I'll stay."

**Author's Note:**

> this was supposed to be about Diego but somehow Vanya took over so...


End file.
